Sentient
by Rikkoshaye
Summary: Screeching with agony the creature raised its jagged arm blades, hooking them into its broken, outer jaw. The blades sunk into the skin, causing more thick, brackish blood to drain down the monster’s arms and drip onto the sizzling ground... [One-Shot


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- Sentient -

The hydralisk was huge.

Saliva dripping from it's bleeding, broken jaw the monster shook it's head viciously, it's numb maw flapping in the dry air. Shattered from a blow in battle, the two bones in the sack of flesh grinded together, making a loud, sickening sound. Blood spattered across the cracked asphalt, sizzling as it hit the hot ground and bubbling into nonexistence. The hydralisk didn't seem to feel the heat, however, for it's skin was thick and blackened from previous wars and injuries. However, this battle was going to be it's last.

Finally.

Screeching with agony the creature raised its jagged arm blades, hooking them into its broken, outer jaw. The blades sunk into the skin, causing more thick, brackish blood to drain down the monster's arms and drip onto the sizzling ground. Giving one more roar of pain the animal ripped its arms downward, slicing the jaw off with one swift movement. Thumping onto the asphalt the severed limb began to ooze black blood, the fleshy under part of it starting to cook on the hot ground.

Lance stared at the creature from afar, watching with a churning stomach as the monster continued it's instinctual ritual. It was the only one left of its swarm, and it was old for it's kind. Numerous scars lined its molted, brownish body and chunks of flesh were missing from its thick hide. And now the animal had lost half of its outer jaw, cut off by the animal's own will. Yet the creature continued living, mind and body perfected for only one thing.

War.

Leaning downward the hydralisk offered its bleeding, gore-ridden stump to the heated ground, moaning only slightly as the asphalt began to burn the wound shut. Lance winced at the sight, seeing the hydralisk's muscles visibly tense as the pain coursed through it's body. Grunting in sympathy the hidden soldier watched as the creature whimpered again, louder this time, its body spikes extending to their full length. The ground sizzled as the blood that oozed from under the creature was turned into gas, the smell of charred flesh emanating from the injury. 

Turning away Lance waited until the monster's whimpers became quiet and eventually faded completely. Only then did he sneak a peek at what the creature was doing, his stomach ready to heave at any moment. But, surprisingly, the hydralisk was not eating its fallen comrades, like most monsters of it's kind did. Instead it was doing something else. Something so odd, so different…

It was mourning.

Head lifted to the sky the monster's arm blades were extended outwards, neck elongated and tail coiled underneath it. The most tender part of the creature, which was right under the neck, was exposed to all of the world, the pink skin expanding with every breath the animal took. The body spikes that lined the creature's snake-like tail were completely retracted, leaving the small edges where the body plates came together open and vulnerable for attack. Lance suddenly realized that the hydralisk was totally and completely defenseless.

It was the perfect shot. The last soldier of a defeated army, totally defenseless and wounded. The tender parts of the creature were facing Lance, an easy shot for even the most horrific of gunners. Lance suddenly became very aware of the gun that was hanging heavily in his hands, and he glanced down at it. The creature's eyes were closed and facing the other way. If Lance was quiet enough the monster would have no clue.

Raising the gun with shaking hands Lance pointed the bead on the barrel right at the flesh underneath the monster's jaw. One shot to this area would almost instantly kill the creature, the metal bullet traveling up through the skull and into the soft brain tissue. Lance could almost see the monster in front of him rear back in surprise, moments later falling to the ground with a fleshy _thwap. _He could almost smell the stink of the animal's brain chunks as they oozed from the beast's ruined eyes, and mouth. 

Feeling his stomach heave again Lance's hands began to shake. His gun swung off of its target involuntarily, pointing instead to a rock by the creature's tail. Cursing himself Lance fought against his quelling stomach, moving the gun back up toward its target. 

__

'It's just one little Snake. You can do this.' Lance told himself, swallowing. He was ashamed of himself, to tell the truth. Following in his father's and grandfather's footsteps, Lance knew he was going to be a marine since he was very small. He had been on countless training missions, blowing the brains out of all the Zerg he encountered. It was only recently, right after he was assigned his first post, that his stomach had begun to interfere with his missions. He had began to question himself, to question his enemy_. _

'Are they really mindless beasts? They feel, they know they exist. Do they deserve to die?' His solid position on the evil of these monsters he was fighting had then slowly began to waver. He saw each creature he killed as a being, a sentient creature that did not deserve to die. They could speak, converse with one another. Their intelligence was great, and they were able to create traps and execute them with great precision. Their purpose was fighting, but they could think, act and feel. 

On the other hand, it was war.

A noise drifted from the hydralisk's mouth, a cooing sound that laid thickly in the air. Peaking and diving the sound was hypnotic and gentle, awakening and harsh. The animal's body was completely still, muscles bulging from the effort to keep them that way. Sweat petered down the creature's slick body, running in rivets and evaporating quickly as it hit the ground. Only the hydralisk's mouth moved, what was left of the outer maw mimicking the inner. The noise was a sad one, a one that seemed to hold thousands of memories and millions of deaths. It was a song. A song of death, of sorrow. 

A song of mourning.

Laying his gun down Lance could only stare at the animal, all his inner turmoil disappearing. He knew it, he knew it in his heart all along. This monster… no, this _being_ could feel. Lance's heart swelled with the knowledge of this as he bathed in the song's meaning and feeling, hanging his head and offering his own prayers for the dead around him. He knew, now, that everyone was wrong. These creatures had hearts and minds, and that all this fighting was pointless. And he knew, now, that he would have no more part in any killing of these… these beings.

And he stayed true to his word.

The song of mourning suddenly became quiet and almost inaudible, dropping to a low gurgle in the hydralisk's throat. Lance looked up slowly, his own thoughts faltering with and being replaced with a pang of wonderment. Eyes connecting with the creature that stood in front of him Lance felt his heart leap into his throat, his whole body freezing. Freezing with fear.

The hydralisk, who's body had been lifted towards the sky and open to all forms of death, had now been replaced with a coiled monster who's spikes and claws were all fully in place. Its red, saffron eyes glowed within their deep pits, the biological armor around them reflecting the light that touched it. Head lowered the slimy skin shined with sweat, the large jugular throbbing with the black blood that coursed through it. The monster's tail coiled underneath its skinny body, side spikes extended to their full length, eliminating any vulnerable places. And the arm blades of the creature were held out in front of it, wavering slowly with every breath. Body tense with the defensive position the hydralisk stared at Lance, head cocking to the side slowly. And then a growl began to spill from the monster's lips, a pensive sound that shook Lance's very soul.

"W…wait, I won't hurt you!" Lance said, regaining the usage of his mouth. But the plea was quiet and didn't carry, the bodies of the dead around him seeming to devour his words. Heart beginning to pound Lance tried to stand, but his legs would not listen. His arms were like jell-o, their grip loose on the gun. And his adrenaline was gone, used up in the fear of watching the beast before him.

Muscles shifting beneath the skin the hydralisk rose on its tail, arm blades extending outwards and head lowering near the ground. All the while the creature's eyes stayed on Lance, their usual glow increasing to an almost blinding light. Sweat falling to the ground small puffs of steam rose into the scorching air, coming in contact the hydralisk's body and rolling past it indifferently. Then, with one more grunt-like growl the monster's spike sacs opened, green ooze falling out of them and burning slowly on the ground.

Squaring off it's shoulders the hydralisk turned to Lance, green acid dripping down the monster's back. Cocking it's head again the creature looked at Lance questioningly, a spike emerging from it's living cave, green acid lubricating it.

"Wait, stop!" Lance said again, his voice raising to a higher pitch. But the hydralisk didn't seem to hear. All the intelligence and sympathy that may have been in it's gaze disappeared, replaced by a cold, indifferent stare. Opening its mangled jaws the monster let out a loud, screaming hiss, followed by a bellowing roar that shook the ground and disturbed the heavens. Spikes emerging from their sacs the green acid spewed from the monster's inner body, propelling the hardened cartilage right into Lance's skull.

The hydralisk did not blanch as brain tissue exploded from the soldier's eye sockets, and mouth. The hydralisk's stomach did not quiver as the stink of human blood filled the warm air and sizzled on the black, broken asphalt. The hydralisk did not stop to ponder if it should be killing marines, fighting the war or creating mass carnage across the galaxy.

But it did stop momentarily, a small thought circulating in the depths of its small brain. A small feeling that made the creature stare across the horizon, right into the setting sun. A thought that was simple and pure, and expressed by this creature every time a battle was won. A thought… a feeling…an instinct... 

It was happy to be alive.


End file.
